Ginkgo biloba is a woody tree with a spreading form and a large trunk that reaches a height between fifty to eighty feet. The trees are sexually dimorphic (two-forms), and male trees typically have steep branching angles while female trees are broadly branched. Ginkgo grows in temperate climates and is long-lived, with trees up to one thousand years old having been reported.

Ginkgo is characterized by flattened, often bilobed leaves, with numerous fine veins that lack a midvein. Leaves are clustered on slow-growing, short shoots or spaced spirally on elongated shoots. Ginkgo trees are deciduous and the silhouettes of its bare branches make it easy to identify male and female trees. The pollen of Ginkgo is called prepollen because it produces a haustorial tube upon germination and only after several months releases a motile sperm cell that swims to fertilize the egg. Ginkgo is one of the most...